I was born in Philadelphia and grew up eating those great Philly Cheese Steaks from Pat’s and the second best in the world from a little hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop around the corner from where I lived.  There were vegetarians back in the 50’s and 60’s, but they mainly stayed away from the steak shops, or more commonly, broke their vow of no meat to satisfy their own tummy and taste buds. (more…)

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Indoor Hydroponic gardens usually are big and hungry energy sucking installations, with abnormally high electricity usage. The Omega Hydroponic garden though, is a different variety all together as Vancouver based Omega Garden’s Carousel System aims at more efficient use of energy, with claims of higher food yield as compared to conventional hydroponic gardens.

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The entire United States faces the threat of a shortage of food because of the severe drought in California, the state which meets about a third of the country’s food needs.

Farms in California - aerial view

The farmlands of California are irrigated by diverted rivers and streams that are filled yearly with runoff from the Sierra Nevada snowpack and by pumping of groundwater as well through some other less-reliable methods. But, the snowpack is disappearing fast.

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The growing world population and the fact that each year we need to feed more mouths, means that farmers are forced to derive the maximum out of the same agricultural land available. The problem with such an approach is that most often synthetic materials and pesticides creep into the local ecosystem due to their excessive usage and it is just a matter of time before their adverse effects are being felt along the food chain.

Valley Farm, West Wratting

But there’s hope as organic farming is the fastest growing sector of the American food marketplace today. And is gaining greater acceptance in nations like UK, India, Australia or Japan.

Although studies across have found a 20% smaller yield from organic farms, it should be considered that it’s a result of using 50% less fertilizer and 97% less pesticides. In other words, there is just a marginal decrease in yield when compared to the huge reduction in costs and energy that is spent when compared to conventional farming.

It has also been concluded with evidence that organic food tastes a lot better, has more nutritional values and greater health benefits due to lack of synthetic and chemical compounds in them when compared to other food material.

However, the most important aspect of course is that the production of organic food actually helps build clean, pollution-free and sustainable ecosystems devoid of chemicals— making them invaluable environmental assets. And there’s hope. There are companies like Abel & Cole Organic Food in UK that are at the cutting edge of producing organic food and hopefully will soon oversee a revolution towards farms that stop becoming pesticide dumps, while offering nutritious diet hat builds a healthy society.

We’re game!

Image courtesy of stawarz

One of three finalists in this year’s Evolo Skyscraper Competition, Eric Vergne’s Dystopian Farm project is a spiraling biomorphic structure. A building that floors you with its structural integrity and the used methods that combine green solutions with modern urban life.

Using the concept of vertical farming and blending with the vibrant design patterns, the blueprint provided by Eric is a future vision of how the food production sector will look like. With cities expanding outwards, agricultural land shrinking and the number of mouths required to feed – growing geometrically, it is high time such solutions are tried out.

Designed for the Hudson Yard area of Manhattan, the dynamic social space conjured up by Eric is a hub which houses farms, residential areas, and markets. By using revolutionary systems – the airoponic watering technology, nutrient technology, controlled lighting and CO2 levels, the structure will both produce food for thousands and will house a self-sustained ecosystem inside it. This will obviously also clean up the pollution in urban areas to a certain degree and will add to the green factor in general.

While the design and the technology it employs looks way ahead of its time, it may not be far till we actually start using similar vertical farms in the heart of major cities.

What do you think?

Wastage of any natural resource is obviously bad, but when it comes to “food” things are even worse.

Leftovers or dinner of the month?

With UN predicting an imminent food crisis in many parts of the world because of the current global financial crunch, it seems only wise that we waste as little as possible. And though at home we try not to do it, when it comes to big hotels, organizations and schools, it could be the difference between hunger and satisfied meals for many.

Small string volunteer organizations across the US are starting an innovative new venture in which restaurants and large corporate houses are being encouraged to donate food that would otherwise go into the bin. Apart from the very obvious ‘green’ reasons that encourage such ventures, this is also a wonderful humanitarian gesture.

While you may not find such organizations flashing ads across the internet or on national television, you sure can go check with your local community, to find out about where you can donate. It’s up to you!

Image courtesy of Rasimu

With the modern world stretching out vertically, rather than horizontally, it’s also inevitable for our green structures and gardens. Amin Taha Architects are building gardens in the sky in their new Vauxhall tower, with 25,000 square feet of communal gardens, each three stories in height.

The new green structures may not only be a great place for evening walk and social activities, but also our first step towards vertical farming on skyscrapers. Apparently, the one on the top, won’t be just a garden in the concrete jungle that surrounds it, because it may produce food to feed the hungry. Of course, the space also offers a great way to create fresh air and should be a portal for healthy living.

The planned tower will stand 130m tall and will feature 178 residential units, as well as office space. Let’s hope future developments will include all these … and more. Doesn’t sound like a bad idea, at all. – via TreeHugger

There’s a green prison farm, the Cedar Creek Corrections Center, about 25 miles outside Olympia, the capital of Washington state, where inmates, murderers and elsewise, are being used to cultivate the green prison farms.

A medium-security inmate at the Cedar Creek Corrections Center, uses a botanical keybook to identify moss as part of a forest conservation research project

It is estimated that the States have paid $49 billion to feed, house, clothe, treat and supervise 2.3 million offenders in 2007. It’s about time the inmates of the 1,821 facilities begin feeding for themselves, in the least, making good use by recycling what they can.

One prison grew some 8,000 pounds of organic vegetables. Another prison uses waste wood chips to run water boilers. Yet another uses a wind turbine to generate power, saving $2,280/year. A Blythe, CA prison makes use of 6,200 solar panels, enough to provide power to 4,100 homes.

In North Carolina a prison switched to chemical free cleaners and vegetable based inks. In Oregon, old appliances were replaced with energy-efficient ones. Old prison blues are recycled to make diaper bags for women’s shelters and dog beds for animal shelters.

Yeah, it’s easy to tell inmates to recycle, be good stewards, make better use of materials. I wonder, do we all need to take a turn behind bars to learn what is best for our planet?

Image by DiscoverMagazine

I know you guys can read, but I just feel like saying it out loud, again.

“Only when the last tree has died, and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught, will we realise that we can not eat money“

There’s so much truth in that … – via AmericansAreBrainwashed

Drax, a major energy companies in the UK has revealed that it plans to build three biomass stations in the UK, at a cost of £2 billion. All of the biomass stations will run on biological waste from forestry or industries such as woodchips, straw, sunflower seeds, peanut husks and agricultural products such as sugarcane, hemp or willow.

Drax power station at midnight

As the prices of fossil fuels are continuously on the rise, this effective step will provide an enormous boost to UK’s target of producing 20% of its energy from renewable resources by 2020.

When ready, the three biomass stations will produce 15% of Britain’s total energy, to suffice 2million homes. They will be built in collaboration with the engineering giant – Siemens, with two of the plants going at Hull near Yorkshire while the third venue still remains undecided.

However there is slight concern over the sustainability of these stations because it is being felt that we might “sacrifice” plants for fuel, rather than eating them. With food, soon to be major problem, that’s a tough decision, don’t you think? – via Telegraph

Image courtesy of yorkshiregeek